So, you’re interested in doing your own build? Or maybe you’re just interested in how I got started. In the following post I’ll cover a few of the starting basics. Hopefully, this will help give you some insight or just satisfy your curiosity. The basics that will be covered are: selecting a build site, designing your plans, and going through the permit process.
Obviously the first thing you need is a place to build. When selecting a build site there are many factors to consider. Firstly you need to decide the type of area you want to live in. Are you interested in a rural area or is the city more your style? Each one has its own challenges such as HOA’s and zoning for cities and lack of water or access for the country. However, if you are in my boat; your decision may end being dictated by finances rather than preferences. In my case I found a little piece of land in a neighborhood in the small town of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. Before purchasing, I did a fair bit of research. Essentially, I examined three key things before purchasing. First I drove through the neighborhood to determine if it was a place I would enjoy living and most importantly if it had an HOA. I am sure for some people they have their place but, in my experience HOA’s tend to be a hinderance when creating something as a different as a tiny house. Once I had that settled, I then researched the town and the county’s local building laws regarding types of houses. Now this kind of thing is tedious, however it is highly important because the last thing one wants is to buy land and then find themselves unable to build on it.
The second thing I examined once I found my piece of land was the setbacks. In case you are unaware, setbacks are legally required distances from a property line that your home must sit at. I have a very small piece of land so it was important that I find out just what the setbacks were just in case there was some legal oddity and I was unable to build a house. By the way if you encounter such a problem you can ask your local zoning board for a variance. Check out this link for more info. https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/land-use-laws/zoning-changes-variances-and-more.html To find info about setbacks, I found the easiest way was to ask the local building inspector. He was a great help in clearing this up and I found his info simply by calling my local town government. Pictured below is my piece of land before I bought it.
The third and final thing I researched before purchasing was how the land flooded during rain. This simply required visiting the land after a heavy rain. However, because I go a bit overkill I also checked FEMA’s website. Here you can enter any address and it will tell you if you live in or live adjacently to a flood plain. Here’s the link. https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search
After purchasing your piece of land, its time to start designing your house. There are several resources you can use to do such a thing. If your flush with cash you can always visit and architect and they will fantastically design you a house. However, if you’re building on a budget like me, you can design your own and there are a plethora of programs you can use. In my case I wanted to use something that was free or inexpensive yet could do the job well. I did a lot of research and finally settled on using an online designer called Cedreo. It not only allows you to draw plans but, also create 3D designs, and light simulated renderings of your designs. The site has free and paid options, however the free option is excellent as it is what I used to design my house. Here’s the link with pictures of my renderings. https://cedreo.com/
The permitting process takes a little while and actually completeing it requires a little research during the creation of your plans. Essentially, you need to contact your local building office and ask them what a set of plans requires to be approved. In my case, I was required to provide the following: a basic room plan, a basic layout of my land, an erosion control plan, fire ratings for my walls, a basic electrical plan, framing details, and foundation details. Once you compile all of the required plans, you submit them to the city or county department whichever is applicable. They will then ask you to pay a percentage based on your estimated project cost. Here it will largely depend whether you are contracting the house yourself or hiring people. Once the plans are submitted and the fees paid its just time to wait.
Good luck and hope this gives you a little insight into starting a build project.